Northampton's Colin Machat finishes second in 100 freestyle at Division II state championship

Northampton's Colin Machat was the Division II state runner-up in the 100 freestyle. (The Republican staff photo by Michael Beswick)

Joel Bierwert of Northampton was the state Division II diving runner-up. (The Republican file photo)

CAMBRIDGE - This time, it didn't take 24 years for someone to break the Northampton High School boys swimming record in the 100-yard freestyle.

Six days after eclipsing a mark that had stood since 1988, Colin Machat now owns the two fastest times in Blue Devils history. The junior finished in 47.32 seconds, good for second place at Saturday's Division II state championships at Harvard University.

Machat set the previous mark of 48.23 last Sunday at the Western Massachusetts championships. While that was good enough to make him the No. 1 seed, he knew Concord Carlisle's Drew Andre was the one to beat.

"I was really looking forward to trying to get the record," said Machat, who also finished sixth in the 50 freestyle. "The guy who got first, he was really fast."

Andre defeated Machat by nearly a full second and also took the win in the 50. Milford standout Kevin Bradley also won twice - the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.

On Machat's agenda for next season is lowering the mark even more, and finally winning the Western Mass. title in the 10 free with Minnechaug's Wiktor Karpinski finally graduating.

Weston regained the title it had won from 1999-2008 with a 12.5-point win over Concord Carlisle, while Northampton was 10th.

Amherst sophomore Ciaran Dillon-Davidson won his heat of the 200 freestyle in 1:47.16, which was better than all but two swimmers in the final heat, giving him a third-place finish. Weston's Tommy Peacher won in 1:43.07.

"I was really excited to be able to drop so much time," said Dillon-Davidson, who was seeded ninth with a best time of 1:50.63. "I was a lot more relaxed than I probably would have been if I had been swimming for the win."

Concord Carlisle senior Sean O'Brien capped what meet announcer Peter Goulette called the greatest career in state history by winning the diving competition yet again. Among the future Texas Longhorn's meet-record 696.05 points were several 9.5s and 10s - which are rare for a high school meet.

Northampton senior Joel Bierwert accomplished his goal of being runner-up. He was one of four divers who also competed in the swimming events, finishing 11th in the 50 freestyle and anchoring an eighth-place showing in the 200 freestyle relay.

Palmer junior Aaron Szcepanek claimed fourth in the backstroke and fifth in the butterfly, capping a great season for both himself and his team, which went undefeated for the second straight year.

"I came here to try to do my best, because I had a great season in the 100 fly and 100 back," said Szczepanek, a Ware High School student who swims on Palmer's co-op team. "I just came in and really pushed it."

King Philip senior Aaron Gustafson won the backstroke in a state record 49.24 seconds, which also earned him automatic All-American status. He won by nearly five seconds over second place.

Taconic sophomore George Somerville represented Berkshire County well by taking fifth in both the 50 and 100 freestyles.